When this year's Ottawa Bluesfest lineup leaked last week,
the biggest controversy was that the artists weren't "bluesy"
enough. In retrospect, that just seems quaint. Yesterday,
Kanye West was added as a headliner. And, considering everything he
does seems to court controversy on at least a couple of levels
(case in point: just later that day he was at the TIDAL
"declaration" signing), it's caused an online backlash.

Echoing his appointment at Glastonbury, but on a smaller-scale
(because, you know, Ottawa), an embarrassing petition has sprouted
up to replace Kanye, arguably one of the biggest headliners in
Bluesfest history, with someone "better."

Of course, "better" is as coded a term as it is subjective, but
it hasn't stopped 832 fans from signing the petition, and another
118 people from joining a Facebook group called "Stop Kanye
West At Ottawa Bluesfest." Reasons for signing include
"Because fuck off."

If you don't like it, start a petition. Otherwise, we'll see you
in Ottawa on Friday, July 10.

Rookie puts out a lot of great editorial and video
content, but one of my personal favorites is their series "Ask A
Grown Man" in which older male celebrities answer teen girls'
questions about relationships, both social and romantic. TV On The
Radio's Tunde Adebimpe, Pavement's Stephen Malkmus, and Run The
Jewels are among the musicians who've participated in the past, and
today the magazine published their latest installment. Normally I
would hate watching older dudes pander to the sensitivities of
young girls, but so far most of the musicians have shared some
really pointed advice, and the Beastie Boys' Adam Horovitz (bka
Ad-Rock) is married to the very cool Kathleen Hanna, so he probably
knows a thing or two about how to not act like a jerk. In this
video, Horovitz responds to a series of questions about burgeoning
relationships, consoling one girl that a first kiss is really not
that big of a deal ("There's something really special about being
really close for like, a moment") and assuring another that boys
aren't always as intuitive as girls might like to think they are
("I don't like to generalize, but I'm going to. Boys for the most
part are not very observant, or all that smart, for that matter").
Horovitz also shares some sound advice on what to do when you feel
desperately self-conscious and depressed. Watch the entire video
below.

Chicago garage punks Meat Wave are one of the bands
playing Perfect Pussy's Weekend at Baby's All Right this
weekend. They're on the sold-out 4/3 show with PP, Sick Feeling and
Mannequin Pussy, and it turns out that show's part of a short tour
for the band.

The tour has them in NYC a night before the Perfect Pussy show
to play a smaller gig at Baby's sister venue Elvis Guesthouse on
Thursday (4/2). That starts at 10 PM and is totally
free. All dates are listed below.

Brooklyn's Jerry Paper (aka Lucas Nathan) could
almost have come straight of the Tim & Eric screen: defiantly
weird, part hotel lounge act/Harry Nilsson/Brian Wilson with a
little laptop R&B, and yet oddly appealing. (So Ariel Pink-ish?
Kinda but not really.) His new album, Carousel, just came
out today (3/31) via Bayonet and you can check out the strange
album trailer and an Rdio stream of the whole album, below.

Jerry will be celebrating Carousel's released on
Wednesday (4/1) at Silent Barn with Helado
Negro, Trabajo, and Macula
Dog. If you've never seen Jerry live, well, like his
records, it's a little different. Tickets are on
sale.

Jerry will also play the Bayonet Records Northside showcase at
Rough Trade on June 12 with Frankie
Cosmos, Warehouse and headliners Beach
Fossils. Tickets for that show go on sale Friday (4/3) at
noon.

Over the course of more than 30 years, Adam Horovitz, aka
Ad-Rock, has built up a career that most people can only dream of.
From his historic run with the Beastie Boys (three Grammys, a
Diamond-certified album) to his ongoing acting career (most
recently starring in Noah Baumbach’s While We’re
Young), the New York native is pretty much a legend in his own
right, with a serious wealth of knowledge at his disposal.

This week, Horovitz passed along some of that wisdom as part of
Rookie Mags “Ask A Grown Man” series,
which features questions submitted by the publication’s
teenage readership. Following in the footsteps of past guests Run
The Jewels and Radiohead, the MC offered up advice on first kisses
(“Go ahead and do it!”), how to properly breakup with
someone, and personal insecurities, among other topics. Watch
the full video below.

In related news, Ad-Rock confirmed that the Beastie Boys were
officially done, but still have a treasure trove of unreleased
music “in the vault.”

Elias Bender Rønnenfelt is the frontman for Iceage, a Danish
punk group that's better-known stateside than his solo project
Marching Church. He's been gearing up for the release of a new
Marching Church album called This World Is Not Enough, and
previously shared "Hungry For Love" and "King Of Song" from the
project. The album comes out today, so he's shared the video for
"King Of Song" to commemorate its release. A black and white
affair, it was directed by Catherine C. Coleman, and it follows
Rønnenfelt through a dramatic performance of the song. Watch
it below.

In addition to Mario, the music criticism series
will also release books on Devos Freedom of
Choice and The Dead Kennedys Fresh Fruit for Rotting
Vegetables at the same time.

33 1/3 is a running series where one music
critic dedicates a book’s worth of words to a single album.
The next run of books is due this May and will deliver a first in
the series: A book dedicated solely to the score of a video game.
It’s not just any videogame either.

Writer and composer Andrew Schartmann will write an entire book
dedicated Koji Kondo’s groundbreaking original score to
Super Mario Bros. It’s a fascinating challenge and not
just because it’s the series’ first stab at a long form
analysis of video game music, but because Kondo’s
groundbreaking score only amounted to a couple minutes of
music.

The books will be available May 21st via Bloomsbury, find more
info on 33 1/3’s website. Revisit
Kondo’s the musical world of Super Mario Bros.
below.

The post 33 1/3 series preps book on Super Mario Bros.
score for May appeared first on FACT Magazine: Music News, New
Music..

Future Islands are in the UK recording at Abbey Road, and they
debuted two of their new songs Sunday at Sheffield Plug. "The
Chase" is an uptempo new wave number in the vein of "Seasons
(Waiting On You)," while "Haunted" is slightly more laid-back;
imagine Future Islands putting their own melancholy spin on Bruce
Springsteen's "Glory Days," and maybe you're close. Watch fan-made
video of both songs below, and read our recent Future Islands cover
story while you're at it.

photo: Downtown Boys at Death by Audio in 2014 (more by
Amanda Hatfield)

Sax-driven political punk party Downtown Boys signed to
Don Giovanni last year, and since announced that the label will put
out their debut album, Full Communisim, on May 4. So far two
of the tracks have been released, "Future Police" and "Monstro."
Check out both below.

Downtown Boys are also going on tour, and playing a record
release show in NYC on May 15 at Palisades with In
School (ex-Household) and The Homewreckers.
Tickets for that show are on sale now.

David Duchovny: actor (The X-Files,
Californication), director (House of D), writer
(Holy Cow)… and musician? Apparently so: the
multi-talented star has announced the release of his first solo
album, Hell or Highwater.

Making this record is a dream come true, but I never had this
dream it’s still a shock when I think about how all this
music happened, Duchovny said in a statement. What I do know is
that I feel these songs represent the truest expression that
I’ve ever been able to achieve and I look forward to sharing
it with everyone.

Hell or Highwater press materials promise a
“blend of poetic lyrics and infectious melodies” when
the album is released on May 12. Preview the album below. A tour in
support of the album might have to wait, however: filming of the
upcoming The X-Files mini-series is
expected to begin this summer.

If Duchovny’s style doesn’t suit you, meet
Palmbomen, who turned a summer long X-Files binge
into a psychedelic house record.

The post The X-Files star David Duchovny readies
folk-rock debut album appeared first on FACT Magazine: Music News,
New Music..

To start, let's re-braid some loosened threads in the Eskimeaux
narrative. Eskimeaux is the moniker of Gabrielle Smith, a
songwriter known to play in Frankie Cosmos' band, but whose project
has been in existence under this particular name since 2007. Smith
is a member of the Epoch, a group of friends who identify as a
collective and play in one another's bands. The members of
Eskimeaux all front their own projects, and assist in a slew of
others -- Oliver Kalb is Bellows, Felix Walworth is Told Slant, and
Jack Greenleaf is Sharpless.

NYC's "festival of noise and abstract liberation" Ende Tymes
Festival was recently announced to return this year from May
13-17 at Knockdown Center, Silent Barn and Outpost Artists
Resources, and you can now check out the full schedule with
daily lineups and set times. The fest includes Z'EV, Metalux,
Dead Machines, Pharmakon, Lary 7, Gen Ken Montgomery, Chris
Goudreau (of Sickness), David Lee Myers, Thomas Dimuzio, Bastard
Noise, C. Spencer Yeh, Marcia Bassett & Samara Lubelski and
many more.

There's an indieGoGo campaign set up to raise money for the
festival, and more info at the fest's website.

We’re all running from something, which Becker identifies
as death without meaning or legacy. That the source of so much of
our culture ought to lie in fear is both sad and eminently
forgivable. There’s nothing more human than this. Our music
tries to sound how it might feel to forgive this essential fault in
ourselves and in all of us. — Jana Hunter,
Lower Dens

Who knew 2015 was going to be such a big year for David
Duchovny? He just put out his first novel (the New York
Times best-seller Holy Cow: A Modern-Day Dairy
Tale), he’s returning as Agent Fox Mulder in a new
season of The X-Files, and now this: Duchovny has
announced his debut solo album, Hell or
Highwater.

Due out May 12th on ThinkSay Records, the 12-track album sees
the actor/writer/musician delivering “poetic lyrics and
infectious melodies,” according to a press release. From a
series of preview videos (which you can watch below), it seems the
music will fall into the folk/rock troubadour realm of sound.

Making this record is a dream come true, but I never had
this dream it’s still a shock when I think about how all
this music happened, Duchovny said of the
release. What I do know is that I feel these songs
represent the truest expression that I’ve ever been able
to achieve and I look forward to sharing it with everyone.

The title track is available for purchase via iTunes, while
pre-orders for the full record are going on here. Below, find the
album art, preview clips, and tracklist.

Pioneering hip-hop trio De La Soul haven't blessed us with a
full-length of sunshine since 2004's The Grind Date,
but Monday, they announced that they've been at work on a new
record for the past three years and you, the fan, could help bring
the thing to fruition via Kickstarter. At the time of publishing,
just over 24 hours after the 32-day campaign went live, they've
raised $196,000. That's 178% of their $110,000 goal.

You might recall that in February of last year, to celebrate the
25th anniversary of 3 Feet High and Rising, the trio made
their entire catalogue downloadable for the low, low price of your
email a move that backfired when the servers went down but, in
hindsight, helped this latest fundraising blast land squarely in
the mailboxes of their hungriest fans.

For this upcoming, yet to be titled album, Posdnous, Dave,
and Maseo decided, in light of their historic legal battles around
sampling, they'll exclusively sample themselves. For the last few
years, they've hunkered down with L.A. studio musicians in the
historic Vox studio to produce over 200 hours of original music
that they can pour over, chop, edit, and sample from to their
hearts' content.

To pile quirk atop quirk, the next album boasts guest spots by
Damon Albarn, 2 Chainz, and David Byrne, which probably don't come
cheap, especially without the help of a label.